ARTICLES ABOUT CASINO BY DATE - PAGE 4

The Dania Jai-Alai fronton is hopping again. Electricians are wiring up slot machines, cooks and servers are polishing the bar, and everyone is walking around very, very quickly. The 60-year-old building is about a month away from a rebirth, this time as a casino. Almost all of what is now called Dania Casino and Jai-Alai's 300 employees are in place, and everyone from poker dealers to cashiers are in the midst of training. The walls have been painted a deep red, with a dark purple providing a regal contrast.

After security officers and police saw a three-month-old infant and 19-month-old sibling in a pickup truck at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Sunday, a Miami man was charged with two counts of child neglect without great harm. The babies were in their car seats inside a Ford F-350 on the eighth floor of the Winner's Way parking garage at the Hollywood casino, Seminole police said in an arrest report. Resort security told police the kids had been inside the truck, its windows "barely cracked" and with a movie running, for an hour on Sunday afternoon and that the infant was screaming, the report states.

A Hallandale Beach pari-mutuel and an international gambling giant have become partners in a new casino endeavor, but if their chances were quantified in terms of a poker hand, perhaps their next move would be "fold. " Officials at Gulfstream Park Racing and Casino and Malaysia-based Genting said last week that they want to open a casino in Miami, using a state pari-mutuel permit Gulfstream owns. The No. 1 challenge is, the state says the casino permit is good only for Broward County , not Miami-Dade.

Calder Casino and Race Course is the latest to try a new deal in the hyper-competitive poker business. The casino's poker room has been shuffled from the horseracing grandstand building to inside the casino. And there's been an increase in the amenities: There are now 42 flat-screen TVs surrounding the 14 tables — an average of three TVs per table, believed to be the highest ratio in South Florida. Because poker players fold their hands much more often than they bet, having a diversion such as sporting events on TV is important, especially to lower-stakes players.

In Michael Yormark's vision for his corner of Broward County , a night on the town would include a big-name concert and a bite to eat or a nightcap with a little gambling. A hotel would be handy for tourists. Not unlike what's available at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood. But before Yormark's plan for Sunrise could happen, the state Legislature would have to change the rules. "We need your help to compete on a level playing field in our market," Yormark told the Florida Senate Committee on Gaming in Tallahassee on Monday.

The former Dania Jai-Alai is on a hiring streak. The fronton, now called Dania Casino & Jai-Alai, is being renovated, and owners expect to open in late January with 550 slots in what they are calling "Phase 0. " The casino has hired about 135 employees to greet and guide customers and maintain the slot machines and plans to hire 330 by opening day. "The staff will be attending training and constant testing to ensure the quality of service...

Lightweights Justin Gaethje and Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante will fight for the second time on Jan. 18 at the World Series of Fighting 8 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood. Gaethje and Cavalcante, who trains in Boca Raton, will fight for the series inaugural lightweight championship. Gaethje (10-0) defeated Cavalcante (18-7-1) with a first-round TKO on March 23 at the World Series of Fighting 2 in Atlantic City, N.J. Gaethje's last fight on Oct. 26 was in Coral Gables beating Dan Lauzon by TKO in the second round.

Palm Beach County may join other South Florida counties angling to change state law to allow Las Vegas-style casino resorts. Florida lawmakers this year are expected to reconsider the debate over allowing casino resorts to spread to South Florida. Palm Beach County has already been pushing for lawmakers to allow slot machines at the Palm Beach Kennel Club. The county argues it needs slot machines to stay competitive with pari-mutuels in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, where slot machines are already allowed.

The Seminole Tribe of Florida has brought Asia's most popular slot machine to its casinos, with a $150,000 minimum jackpot that could hit at any of their properties across the state. The machine is called Fa Fa Fa ("fa" translates to "richer" or "fortune") and features Asian symbols of prosperity, such as turtles, gongs, fish and phoenix. "This is the most prevalent game in Macau by leaps and bounds, and we're excited not only for the opportunity to bring it here but to offer life-changing jackpots," said Kevin Sweet, vice president of slot performance for Seminole Gaming.